The Furies of Paradise
by ShadoWolfDemon
Summary: At the end of the world a paradise will be opened, but only wolves will know how to find it. Stuck in WWII, Ed and Al search for Shembala, the REAL Shembala. Summery cont. inside. This is a Wolf's Rain/FMA Crossover. R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**Summery:** Shembala, Rakuen, Eden; all legends having to do with a paradise. At the end of the world a paradise will be opened, but only wolves will know how to find it. Stuck in WWII, Ed and Al search for Shembala. Winry meanwhile researches Alchemy, but who knew that would bring her to search for Paradise as well. Wolf's Rain/FMA Crossover. EdWin and perhaps AlXoC. Yes there are wolves in this too.

**Enjoy the story!**

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The Furies of Paradise By Shadow Prologue 

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"Brother," Al said franticly. Ed hushed him with a wave of his hand and crouched down lower into the bushes. Al followed his example.

Sure enough a small squad of soldiers came running past them. Al took a small quick breath and held it, and Ed peaked over the bush. Al dared not look, but he could hear everything just fine.

"Which way did those kids go?" one man yelled. Ed observed a few of them shrink back in fear. Ed knew right away that was the leading officer, "Well, spread out and find them…_now_!"

"Sir!" they said, and dispatched. Ed crouched down again as a soldier wearing a Swastika walked by them a second time.

When Ed was sure that the man was out of earshot he turned to his cowering brother, "Alphonse," he whispered in a barely audible voice, "On my count, we run for it… one…two…"

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"There they are!" a man shouted, "Kill those bastards! Messengers of death! Kill them!" Gunshots where heard all around, but each one missed their targets.

"No! They're supposed to all be dead!" the same person shouted, "Its been 200 years since the last one was seen…all they bring is death!"

His companions ran after their targets, leaving the screaming man to himself. A yelp of what sounded like a dog was heard as another gunshot sounded.

"Yes, that's right. Kill them," the man said grinning a smile that made him look devilish, "Because if they live, they will bring the end to us all."

"Excuse me mister," a female voice called out. The man turned around, holding out his rifle, but lowered it as he realized it was only a teenager.

"What is it? You should run! Those monsters bring death!"

"But—" she started, but was cut off.

"Wait a second," the man said as he narrowed his eyes. He raised his gun in the girl's direction and she as a response put her hands up to her face, cowering.

"Wait! Don't shoot—"

_BLAM!_

The shot was fired right passed the girl's ear. A yelp was heard followed by a harsh _thud_ of something hitting the ground.

"See that _monster_ that I just shot girl?" the man said leading her towards the shot-down animal, "That, was a wolf, and from the looks of it, I didn't quite kill it."

"A…wolf?" the girl repeated, "But they've been extinct for over 200 years!"

And with that she took off after the trail of blood. Something possessed her to pursue the creature to see it for herself.

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"Aw, crap!" a voice called out to no one in particular, "That man got me."

A large canine creature with midnight fur and a fluffy pelt struggled to stand as her leg spurted out fresh blood. Her eyes shone blue rather than the normal brownish color of her domesticated relatives, but they were scrunched up in pain.

She was a wolf. Her head was turned around back to where the crazy man had shot her. In the distance she could hear the man curse and yell that the world was ending; that he allowed one of the wolves to survive.

Curiously she looked around hoping to find a way out of this situation. Her friends had probably been shot dead by now.

"Damn," she cursed, "Now what am I going to do?"

The bushes rustled and the wolf snarled, hoping that would keep the hunter away, but she stopped short as the teenage girl from before came before her. As much as she hated humans, she couldn't kill a child.

"Do it quick human," she said, "At least don't have me suffer."

"What are you talking about?" the girl said with wide eyes, "I wasn't going to kill you. Let me help you."

The girl offered the wolf a hand. The wolf looked at her wearily, but accepted the hand with a human hand of her own, her parallel form that made solely for her survival and nothing else. The ability to change to a human at will.

If her life wasn't hanging by a thread right then, her pride would have been shattered for having to resort to this.

As she leaned on the girl for support, they made their way out of the forest.

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Ed was surprised to hear gunshots in the distance. Immediately the soldiers ran to the source, one of them screaming, "They must've gone that way!"

Soon the stomping sound of human feet vanished and the brothers felt that they were able to move now.

"Brother?" Alphonse questioned, "What was that?"

Both Ed and Al had come out of their hiding spot to see what had happened. The Nazis seemed to be restraining another man with a rifle.

"A rifle?" Ed asked aloud, "What good would that do?"

His brother only shrugged in response.

The man was deemed crazy by the soldiers and locked in handcuffs. His screams of the world ending where put to a stop as another guard smacked him with a club; his head hung down as if he had passed out from the impact.

Out of his long coat, a book dropped, but it was rudely kicked away by an armed man. When the brothers where sure that the Nazis were gone, they went over to the book.

Alphonse bent over to pick it up. He brushed the dirt off of it and his eyes widened as he recognized the familiar signs of transmutation circles written all over it.

Ed noticing the same thing quickly grabbed it out of his younger brother's hands and flipped the book around.

"The Lunar Tome," El read aloud. He stared at his brother with wide eyes. Somehow, they felt that this book was going to help them…somehow.

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A/N: Well, here's the prologue. I think I have a good idea for this, but we'll see where it goes.

**Review to keep me writing! Even a flame is great (well…maybe not…).**

**Anyway, the black wolf is not Blue from Wolf's Rain, but her first daughter. There is some pre-established BlueXHige in this. Toboe will also definitely be in this. I'm debating who else to put in because the rest of the wolves would be very aged at this point if Blue's and Hige's children are grown up already.**

**Perhaps I will and perhaps I won't but you all will never know unless you review!**

**Also if you wanna know where Winry and the others are, then there's another reason to review!**

**Come on peps! REVIEW! XD I'll stop asking you now.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Furies of Paradise

By Shadow

Chapter 1: Metal Sound

Me: Oh crap, I forgot to put a disclaimer in my prologue.

**Ed: Nice one Shadow, you really messed up this time!**

**Me: Shut up you runt, or I'll write you out of the story! Don't you wanna get back to Central and see Winry?**

**Ed: I'M NOT SMALL!**

**Al: Brother stop it!**

**Me: Anyway, the point of all that was to say I don't own FMA. I do however have all the episodes on my iPod.**

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It was odd.

Having help from a human that is. The wolfess and the young girl had successfully made it out of the forest and into a small refuge.

She was offered many things: water, stale bread, and whatever else they could find in their tents.

Apparently, these people were hiding out here to escape the Nazi's, something this wolfess knew little of; not that she couldn't pick up things around town, but she had managed to avoid being captured by the Swastika wearing humans.

Another human, this one looking much like the teenage girl who had helped her, offered her some dried meat. It was tempting. The wolfess had not eaten in days, but unlike her pack leader, who always tried to relate to humans, this young wolfess wanted nothing to do with them, and at every offer of nourishment, she turned it down, her pride once again getting the better of her.

The woman walked away, and the wolfess grunted. She would leave the moment her wounds were healed.

The young girl from earlier came up to her. The wolfess looked down from the heavens and stared blankly in her direction. She didn't feel like talking, but her curiosity was bugging her.

"Why did you decide to help me?" she said, "I figure if you were going to eat me you would've by now."

The girl looked taken aback by the question, but she merely closed her eyes in a half smile and laughed.

"Wolf or not," she started, "you needed help, and in times like these, everyone has been needing help."

The wolfess wasn't convinced. She wanted to leave, badly, but she knew she wouldn't get very far with her injured leg.

"Why are you camping here?" the wolfess asked just as the girl was leaving after having realized that the wolf didn't want to talk. She stopped and turned around, _"does she know anything? I suppose not, she _is_ an animal…"_

"We're hiding from them," she started, "The Nazis. They have some crazy idea for a new world order without us. We're just some stragglers that managed to get away. Most of us are Roma."

"Roma?" the wolfess repeated, "does that mean you aren't people or something?"

The girl cringed, but realized that this animal had no knowledge of how hurtful such a comment could be to her people, so she continued, "No, in fact, it means human in our language."

After that there was a long pause. Neither the girl nor the wolfess spoke. They both seemed to be contemplating what to say next.

The wolfess finally decided she had had enough and stood up from the tree stump she was on and proceeded to move away from the young woman.

"Wait," she called out, "I don't know your name yet…"

The wolfess stopped, her human form whipping around, "I'll tell you, but you have to promise you will not tell anyone that I am a wolf, do you hear me human?"

She nodded in response. The wolfess seemed to have a stare down with her. Her blue eyes melting into her own, reading her thoughts, her emotions, feelings. She almost shuttered but thankfully, did not. Finally the wolf looked away from her, appearing as a human once more. It had only been for a few brief seconds, but the girl could have sworn she was looking at her wolf form as they had a stare down. She shook her head a bit but looked up as the wolf spoke.

"Luna," she said, "It means 'moon' or something like that to you humans. My mother thought it was a good name for me. I'll never know why. The moon has never been something I strive for like other wolves."

The girl said nothing, wondering what on earth the wolf meant by that, but before she was able to ask two figures walked into the camp.

"Noa!" one of them yelled. The wolfess, now known as Luna, heard the clanking of metal on earth.

"_Odd,"_ Luna thought, _"When did humans start wearing metal?"_

The concept of prosthetic limbs or automail was something quite foreign to Luna, so for once, she did decide to take interest in this particular human.

To her surprise, the human whom she was talking to turned around to greet the two figures.

"_So I guess your name is Noa then."_

Luna crossed her arms. Why did she care about these humans anyway? It made no difference to her. They all would end up trying to kill her one way or another.

"Brother, calm down!" Alphonse said, "Its just a book, we can't even read it yet!"

"But it has transmutation circles on it Al! We have to figure out what this book is! Goddamn it! The only part of the book we can read is the title!"

Noa walked up to the two brothers and gently took the book from Ed's hands. After studying it for a few moments she concluded that the book was written in Russian.

"What?" Ed and Al said simultaneously. Alphonse had no idea where Russia was, and Ed knew there was no way he would go walking up to that frozen wasteland.

"Oh that's just great! We find this book called the 'Lunar Tome' and it's completely—"

And with that Luna was up. She knew that name anywhere. From every story her pack had told her.

In moments she snatched the book clear out of Ed's hands.

"Useless?" Ed finished, surprised that someone totally new to him had taken a book strait from his hands.

"Hey, give that back!" he said as he tried to snatch it like a little kid.

Luna merely turned away from Ed who continued to try, and fail, at getting his book back. Luna stared at it with a blank expression.

This book. This book meant…paradise.

"The Book of the Moon," she said quietly. At this Ed stopped his thrashing from Al's grip, now listening attentively.

Luna stared at it for a few extra moments, her eyes darting over the material inside the book. The pictures were recognizable from the stories her packmates had told her. Slowly she scanned each page, her fingers moving over the drawings of wolves and the door to paradise.

And a gate.

Luna's eyes widened, and for a moment she could swear she was standing in front of the gate. One sole eye staring back at her, begging her to come foreword, but she never got the chance to take a step.

"Give me my book!" Ed yelled finally able to snatch it away from the wolfess's eyes.

Luna whipped around, and would have snarled and bit him, but she knew if she broke her human form she would be shot.

Her father had once told her, _'What's the use of pride if you're dead?'_

And as much as it hurt her pride, she decided glaring at the young man was quite enough. Her father was right, as usual.

"So, uh…Noa, whose your new friend?" Alphonse asked politely while Ed defensively held his book.

"Oh right! Ed, Al, this is Luna. She was shot in her leg out there. Sorry I lost you guys, but where in the world did you two run off? I started to worry!" Noa scolded.

Ed grunted and replied; "We saw a cart with food in it. It was all stolen from other camps nearby, and with the Nazis so close to us we'll probably have to move away from here soon."

Al grimaced, "Things don't seem to be getting better. You should be careful Noa. The Roma people are one of their targets."

Luna finally couldn't take it anymore so she asked the question that had been bugging her since the two brothers had appeared, "Why do you have a metal leg? When did people start wearing metal?"

At first Ed looked disturbed by the question, but then realizing that Luna had never heard of a prosthetic limb, let alone automail, he sweatdropped. His brother had a similar reaction.

"Are you serious?" Ed said as he recovered, "You've never heard of a prosthetic limb?"

Luna wasn't entertained, "I don't get out much," she commented.

Ed laughed at her, only to be answered with a swift punch to the head.

"What the hell was that for?!" Ed yelled as he looked up from the floor, clutching his head in pain.

"You were laughing at me?" Luna shrugged and then proceeded to walk away. Unfortunately the bullet wound in her leg prevented her from going very far before she fell down.

"Goddamn it!" she said to herself. Al immediately walked over to support her, but she shooed him away, "Get away! I'm able to walk by myself!"

Al shook his head and continued to help her up. Under his breath he whispered, "You know about that book?"

Luna stopped and looked up at him. He was a tall young man. He looked to be about 16 or 17 years old and had his hair tied up in a ponytail much like his brother, only his hair had a darker tint to it.

"What do you care?" She spat and continued to walk away. Al sighed and let her go. He turned back to his brother, who currently was talking to Noa. Al shrugged and decided to follow Luna.

He needed to know, for both his and his brother's sake.

"Luna!" he called after her, "Wait up!"

Luna pretended not to hear him as she continued to trudge deeper into the forest, leaning against trees for support.

"_Just go away so I can revert back to my wolf form. Please,"_ She thought bitterly.

"Hey wait! I have a question!" Al said as he caught up to her. One of the many reasons he was thankful to have his body back was that he could run without clanking metal all the time. Sure he didn't have endless energy, but it felt good to be able to push himself.

"What?" Luna asked, panting. Persistent brat.

"How did you know about Ed's automail—I mean prosthetic leg?" he asked, correcting himself partway.

Al mentally slapped himself. He needed to get used to the language of this world, but even after a few months he still couldn't revert to their way of speaking.

"You mean his metal leg right?" she asked, "I've never heard of that before. Is it something new?"

Al shook his head. It wasn't really a new piece of technology.

"Oh, well…" she said a bit awkwardly, _"Damn, maybe Toboe had a point when he said humans were worth getting to know."_

"I heard it while he was walking," she concluded, "One of his feat hit the ground differently, and I could hear the clanking of metal. It was only slightly, but I caught it."

Al's eyes widened, "Really? You can hear things that well? That's amazing!"

Luna shrugged, but she could feel a slight amount of heat run to her face. Now _that_ was odd.

"Why, is it so weird that I can hear well?" she asked while looking away to hide her light blush. It could have easily been mistaken for her being tired, (she _was_ running around on a barely functional leg) but never once had any human admired her like this. It was all very new.

In fact this whole day had brought up new things for Luna, _"The Gods must hate me,"_ she thought as she awaited Al's answer.

"No, I guess its not _that_ odd, but the only other person I know who would be able to hear Brother's automail would be…"

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"Winry!" a voice shouted.

The said person looked up and turned around from the piece of automail she was working on.

"Oh, hi Shezka!" Winry replied, slightly surprised, but nonetheless happy to see her friend, "What brings you to my shop?"

Winry was 18 now, and decided a few months ago to open a shop in Central. Being out in the country only got them so much business. Here she could make more of a profit, although getting her name out there was proving more difficult than she expected.

So far she only had one regular customer, which kept food on the table, but wasn't enough to sustain herself for long.

"I was just walking around and I realized I was close by. How's business?" Shezka asked, but she knew the answer.

Still, Winry decided to be optimistic, "Same as usual," She started, "But the regular who comes here says he'll spread the word about my automail, and I've had a few other people stop by for one-time visits, so I guess you could say its improving."

Shezka nodded with a sad smile on her face. It was too bad. Winry put her heart into making these prosthetics for people. Shezka heard a small sigh escape Winry, and noted that she was working on a complicated piece of automail.

"That's a complicated looking one," Shezka said as she walked up to Winry, "Whose it for?"

Winry smiled, "Do I really need to answer that one for you Shezka?"

Winry decided to close up for the day. No one was going to come, and she wanted to go out and do something in Central, "Hey Shezka, what are you doing tonight?"

"Oh, nothing really Winry, just reading."

They both laughed and decided to take a walk. After going over their relatively dull lives as of late, Winry asked what kind of books Shezka had got her nose into this time.

Shezka's eyes seemed to burn with excitement as she started to recite books to Winry with such passion that it could be compared to Major Armstrong's outbursts.

"And then there was this one book that was in the Central Library. I'd never seen it before. It was called 'The Lunar Tome'. It was very strange, mostly because it didn't have much to do with Alchemy…"

Winry couldn't help but be slightly interested, "'The Lunar Tome' eh?" she wondered allowed, "Why would a book having nothing to do with Alchemy be in the library?"

"I know right?" Shezka said, "And it was so odd. The way it was written I mean. It was talking about a place called 'Rakuen' or Paradise."

Winry lifted her head to the clouds, "Paradise huh?"

She thought about the concept. It was familiar, yet so far out of reach, "I know about that place. It was there, back home, before Ed and Al's mom died."

Shezka placed a hand on Winry's shoulder. Everyone had been effected by Ed's reappearance and disappearance, (along with Alphonse this time) but Winry was taking it the hardest.

"I'd do anything to have them both back. Really, I would. Life just seems kinda…empty."

Shezka could say nothing to her friend. All she could offer was her presence and comfort to Winry.

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A/N: well, what do you guys think? Are the character's too OOC? Is Luna a good OC for you? She acts a lot like Kiba only more Naïve.

**Anyway, here's Ch. 1. hope you all enjoyed this installment. You did enjoy it? Well how about you write that on a review? No, you hated it? How about you write that on a review as well? Reviews just help me keep my writing good! **

**--Shadow OUT.**


	3. Chapter 3

The Furies of Paradise

By Shadow

Chapter 2: Unspoken Trust

Me: Aw geez, now I realize I forgot to put a disclaimer for Wolf's Rain in the last chapter as well. Damn it all!

**Luna: Yeah, what the hell is with you Shadow? I mean, sure you can claim rights to your OC's but there's also my **_**pack**_** ya know. Toboe, Kiba, Tsume, Hige and Blue. None of them belong to you. **_**Hell**_**, if I had a choice I'd bite your face off for making me blush in that last chapter.**

**Me: What too afraid of a little love Luna?**

**Al: Hey guys did I miss something? Hey Luna why are you blushing?**

**Luna: Shut up Al! Anyway before my pride is ripped to pieces Shadow doesn't own Wolf's Rain.**

**Al: Nor the show where I come from**

**Me: Wait I need to make reading these worthwhile somehow. Looks around frantically for some sort of entertainment Ed your short!**

**Ed: WHOAREYOUCALLINGARUNTSOSHORTHECOULDLIVEINASHOE?**

**Al: Brother, she didn't say that.**

**Luna: If you two will shut it we can get on with the story; I wanna get to paradise already!**

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"So what did you really fallow me for?" Luna asked suddenly. Her and Al had finished their conversation on Prosthetic limbs and Ed's mechanic. Luna in all honesty wasn't too interested, but she just didn't have the heart to tell Al to shut up. He was pretty convinced that Luna needed company.

After their conversation (or you could call it Alphonse ranting about how his brother _really _needed to ask Winry out already) he and Luna walked around the forest in silence. It was only now that the sun was beginning to set that Luna decided to speak up.

"You wouldn't bother walking with me for three hours just to rant about metal legs. Seriously, what is it you want?"

Luna's face whipped around towards Alphonse. Her gaze tore into his, and Al was scared to move. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down he told the truth, "I really want to know about that book," he started, "and you also shouldn't be running around by yourself, the Nazis are still around this area."

"I don't care about them," Luna said, "They aren't a threat to me. If they tried to catch me they'd have a death wish."

Somehow Al was pretty sure that wasn't a bluff. _"That almost sounds like something Ed would say," _He thought with a small grin plastered to his face.

"What?" Luna exclaimed noticing his smirk.

Al shook his head in response, laughing quietly. It was nice to be able to remember everything once again. The four long years they spent searching for the stone were the worst and best times of Al's life. Sure they were almost killed on a daily basis, but they learned so many things, and at the end, even though they were stuck in a war in another dimension, Al felt accomplished; he and his brother had gone passed the laws of Equivalent Exchange. They had their bodies back.

And yet life still was imperfect. He and his brother were still always on the run. Getting shot at by Nazis and trying their best to also find a way back through the gate. They had done it once before, and perhaps they could make it work again.

How? Well, that answer might be in the book with the transmutation circles on it. How often would you find something looking like that in a world where alchemy didn't exist to the average person?

Al stopped laughing, his face now holding a look of seriousness about it. He looked back at Luna, challenging her beastly gaze. This time it was Luna's turn to freeze. It wasn't even the fact that a human would dare challenge her, but that look of determination was so reflective of her own that it scared her.

Was this what she looked like? Is that how people saw her? Was that why the man thought wolves were messengers of death? Those eyes seemed almost beastly. Perhaps they even were.

Luna considered the option that maybe Alphonse was a wolf, but realized that they both would have known from the start that she was putting on an act. For a moment Luna wondered if his brother had those same eyes. The determined ones.

Luna finally closed her eyes smiling, "Heh, I can see you're as determined as I am..."

Al blinked. He hadn't said anything, but before he could ask Luna cut him off to continue, "That book. Its name is 'The Lunar Tome' also known as 'The Book of the Moon'. Inside it are the legends of how to get to 'Rakuen' or as you people like to call it 'Paradise'. I've heard a few other names for such a place. Eden, the garden of eternal life and knowledge, and Shembala, believed by Aryans to be the homeland of their God, but they're all the same place."

Alphonse's eyes widened, "Shembala…" he repeated quietly. That crazy lady that led party of Nazi supporters into his world had said something about trying to reach Shembala.

He needed to tell Ed. He turned around, not even bothering to say goodbye or thank you like he usually would. This felt so urgent. It was about time he found a way to repay his brother for returning his body.

"Wait," Luna said grabbing his arm at a speed so fast Al didn't even have time to comprehend the movement. Her grip was stronger than he expected and although he tried to pull away, he was held back.

"Alphonse, I warn you now. Don't get involved with that book. You'll become involved in something greater than any human would be able to accomplish. Paradise can only be opened by one thing, and that isn't you or I."

"Then who is it?" Al yelled at her. He needed to know, for his brother's sake.

Luna shrugged, "That's a good question."

There was no concern or curiosity to her voice, as if she knew the answer but didn't see the point in sharing it.

Al sighed. He knew that Luna wouldn't be willing to say what she knew. He looked up at the sky. The sun was just finished dipping into the ground and twilight was beginning to emerge.

Luna noticing the same thing said, "Your brother will be worried if we don't go back if what you say about him is true."

Without another word the two started to walk back the way they came.

As they trekked through the forest, Luna let her mind wander. Without wanting it she had come to respect a human for perhaps the first and last time in her life. Something about Alphonse was different.

Trusting was something Luna never was fond of doing, at least towards humans. That was why she had run away from her pack not two days ago. She didn't realize just how hard surviving was without humans getting in the way.

And yet, for some reason this young man had challenged her and gained her trust. Usually actions were the best way to gain trust when it came to the laws of animals. You fight for your pack.

And then there were words that were spoken. To live in a pack one has to know them like they are your family.

But this was new to Luna. She had never trusted someone just from looking at them in the eyes.

As Luna and Alphonse made their way back into the camp Luna realized that unspoken trust is sometimes okay.

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Winry finally lifted her nose from the book. She really wasn't into books at all, but after her talk with Shezka she couldn't help but want to read the ever-mysterious 'Lunar Tome'

Plus it was a great way to pass the time when no one was in her shop. Winry sighed putting the book down. It was all very complicated and had alchemy weaved in and out of the legend contained within it.

Something about transmuting a flower…or…something!

Winry groaned in frustration. It was now that she really wished Ed was here. He could at least _explain_ the damn thing to her.

Winry sighed. There she was thinking about Ed again. At least this time there was no doubt that he was alive.

Her attention was taken away from her thoughts as person, a very tall woman to be exact, walked into the store.

"Welcome to the Rockbell Shoppe!" Winry said enthusiastically, "Can I help you?"

The woman came over to the desk without even glancing at the automail displayed in the glass cases, "Yes, you can help me child."

"_I'm not a child!"_ Winry thought but smiled through clenched teeth anyway, "And what's that?" Winry asked.

"I'd like to give you the opportunity to learn Alchemy by joining the military."

"WHAT?"

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A/N: Well, well, well…what you all think huh? Plot twist to the max! Winry, a state alchemist? Wtf right? Maybe? Hmm? Well you'll just have to wait to see what happens.

**And…in order to keep me motivated…REVIEW, just click that stupid little go button. I know you want to! D**

**Anyway, I'd like to know what you guys think of Luna, not to mention if Winry and Al are OOC. Anyhow, tell me what you all think! **


	4. Chapter 4

The Furies of Paradise

The Furies of Paradise

By Shadow

Chapter 3:

Ed: Hey what the hell is the deal! I had one friggin line last chapter! And it was because you called me short!

Me: Well Ed would you _like _to be in the story or not? Besides what I said was the truth last time.

Ed: Yes I want to be in the story, and I AM NOT SHORT

Luna: Hurry up and do the disclaimer before I bite off Ed's puny face.

Ed: Don't call me puny!

Luna: (shrugs)

Ed: GRRR!

Luna: Oh now I'm _really_ scared of the little pipsqueak!

Ed: WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!

Winry (popping in from another dimension): SHUT UP YOU GUYS (throws wrench)

**Al: Thanks Winry, I knew I could count on you!**

**Me: Damn, that was a close one, and oh great…I took up half a page with a fucking disclaimer! Now look what you two did! Goddamn it, I'm going to kill you both one of these days!**

**Ed and Luna (bringing hands up in fear): Don't kill us!**

**Al and Winry (ignoring the situation): Anyway Shadow doesn't own FMA or Wolf's Rain**

**Me (looking up from beating up Ed and Luna): Enjoy the chapter! Just wait to see what I have planned for the two arguers. Mwaha!**

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When they finally arrived back at camp Alphonse wanted to rush strait to his brother and tell him all about the Lunar Tome, however he was silenced by a stern look from Luna.

Alphonse cringed under her gaze, and it didn't go unnoticed by Edward; he suspiciously looked over at the two of them and his eyes settled on Luna. Luna looked over at Edward and their eyes locked. You could almost see the sparks flying as they took steps toward each other.

Al was thankfully saved from the oncoming fight when Noa called him over to help set up dinner, however he didn't expect the two young adults to already be yelling by the time he had returned. It had only taken, what, five minutes to put out plates and whatnot?

Al sighed discontently as he walked over towards the quarrelling pair. He could hardly make out what they were yelling about in the first place because it was replaced with insults, most of which about his brother being short and Luna being a freak of nature.

The younger brother sighed again as he tried to explain to the two dinner was ready, but he was promptly ignored.

"I'm not telling a short little ant like you anything!" Luna said, gritting her teeth together, "So would you just piss off?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE COULD LIVE IN AN ANT HILL?"

Surprisingly the insult was similar to what had been said for once, so this time there was no way to correct Edward's little outburst.

"Now tell me about that book! It doesn't take a genius to see that you knew about it!" Ed snapped. Luna sighed and looked like she was about to give up. Ed awaited her answer with puppy-dog eyes

"Let me think about it…nope," Luna said as she waved a hand behind her, dismissing the conversation like it was nothing. Ed immediately started fuming. For a moment it looked like steam was pouring out of his ears.

Luna started to walk away and Ed made a sound that could be compared to a lion growling. If only he could use alchemy. Well, he'd settle for the next best thing.

He charged forward, knocking Luna to the ground, "What the?" Luna gasped in surprise. Immediately instinct took over and she rolled around with him pinning him to the ground below her. She let out a satisfied laugh and smirked.

"Nice try pipsqueak, but you'd never be able to defeat me. My abilities surpass even the strongest of men, so what makes you think you could beat me being as small as you are?"

Edward yelled something about not being small as he struggled in her grip. He soon found that he really couldn't get out of it, so he just sighed in defeat and grumbled, "This is why I wish I still could use alchemy."

Luna's eyes widened; She was about to speak up, but Alphonse knew that things had to stop before they became any worse, "Brother! Luna! Dinner's ready!"

Luna stood up and Ed followed her example now having been let free. He was thankful his younger brother was mature enough to not mention anything about the awkwardness of that entire situation, however Luna hardly seemed fazed.

Edward started to walk away, looking back briefly out of the corner of his eye to see Luna watching him curiously. She seemed intrigued by something. Ed shrugged it off as he sat down at the table.

After a few moments Luna hesitantly followed the Elrics. She _did_ need to eat _something_. She was going to be stuck here a few days thanks to the crazy man shooting his gun.

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Dinner was no better for Alphonse than getting back to camp. Luna and Edward seemed to make everything into a competition. Ed was determined to eat more than Luna just to prove that he was better at something, and Luna took up the challenge. They both inhaled their food at speeds so fast that the people around them barely had time to fill their plates for themselves.

In a rousing five minutes the entire table of food was empty. Both teens held their stomachs in pain. Ed muttered curses to himself while Luna just groaned. Al laughed at the two of them. Ed needed a new rival now that Roy Mustang wasn't around all the time to annoy him to no end.

Maybe it would motivate Ed in the same way he had been on their journey for the Philosopher's Stone.

After the two teens had digested a bit Alphonse decided to bring up the important topic of the Lunar Tome, weather Luna wanted to or not.

"Luna," Alphonse started. In response she just grunted, too tired to really care what he had to say, but willing to listen all the same, "I think you should tell Ed what you told me about the book."

Luna immediately sat upright as well as Edward. Her eyes bore daggers at the younger brother, but then her mind settled on what she had heard earlier, _"This is why I wish I could still use Alchemy…"_

"Fine, but in exchange…" she started, "I wanna know where you guys came from."

"That's a stupid request but fine, I wont argue," Ed smirked, "We're from right here, in Germany."

Luna shook her head, "Than how is it you know about alchemy? Or did I just imagine you saying that? Hmm?" A knowing smirk crossed over Luna's lips. The brothers seemed taken aback by the question. Oh she knew about alchemy. It was something all wolves were capable of. It was how they changed from wolf to human on command.

Alphonse looked at his brother curiously and Ed looked to him with a bit of fear in his eyes. How the hell did she know about Alchemy?

Edward took a deep breath, but was cut off.

"Tell me something," Luna asked, "Can you tell what I am?"

"Huh?" the Elrics asked in unison.

"You're a person, like the rest of us," Edward answered, "What kind of question is that?"

Luna shook her head, "Just seeing if you were paying attention," she lied. So they weren't wolves. She was pretty sure they weren't anyway, but she needed to be sure. So then how did _they_ know about Alchemy?

"So then…tell me where you came from," Luna demanded. The brothers weren't convinced that they knew the significance of her last question, but they would never know she wasn't human. Only Noa. Luna promised that to herself the second she set foot in the campgrounds.

The brother's looked at each other again, "You probably wouldn't believe us," Al said, trying to urge her out of the question.

"And yet you believed me when I told you about what lies inside that book. What's written there seems pretty unbelievable to me. I mean Paradise? Its like a fairytale."

Ed stared at Al in confusion and then to Luna. What in the world had they been up to? Paradise? Ed's mind flickered to the crazy woman talking of Shembala. Wasn't that supposed to be the Aryan Paradise?

Alphonse muttered something to Edward and turned his attention to Luna. He was determined to find out more about this place she called Paradise. Maybe answering her questions truthfully would make her trust them.

"We came from another world altogether," Alphonse blurted out, "Where Alchemy progressed instead of Physics. Beyond the gate you can use Alchemy."

"_The Gate?" _Luna thought thinking of the picture from the book. "_The gate…to Paradise?"_

"I see," she said plainly. She decided to lie back down. She closed her eyes and listened to the bustling of the Roma. She sighed contently but was cut off by Edward.

"So are you going to tell us about the book then?" Ed said curiously. Luna seemed to not really care about the fact that they came from another world. Did she just flat out not believe them?

"Alphonse can tell you. I told him all I know about it." She said waving a hand in the air to dismiss the subject.

Al looked dumbfounded. She had to know more than just that it was about Paradise! Needless to say he later told Ed all he knew from Luna. They both agreed that starting the next morning they'd start getting more info out of her.

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Winry was still in shock from the day beforehand. The memory was still fresh in her head as she walked over to Shezka's house.

As Winry walked up the stairs leading to the military dorms she recalled the conversation they had:

"_A State Alchemist? Are you INSANE?!" Winry demanded, "I'm don't even know alchemy!"_

"_Which is exactly why I am offering you the opportunity to learn alchemy from a master. We could really use your help in the military, especially since you seem to be reading _that."

_The woman was pointing at the book in Winry's hands, "Are you guys searching for…paradise?" Winry asked quietly. An image of her Al and Ed playing back in Resenpool entered her mind. It still seemed like yesterday when they were all together._

"_You could say that," the woman said, "If you want to know the details take up my offer."_

"_Or I could ask Brigadier General Mustang," Winry thought. Nevertheless for some reason she felt as though learning Alchemy might help her find him…_

…_find Ed._

"_I'll think about your offer," Winry said._

"_Well then Winry," the woman said, "Make sure you think very carefully. We can't have you knowing the secrets of this book and still live normally."_

"Live normally or live at all?" Winry asked herself. Although she couldn't imagine that Mustang would allow her to be killed, he still wasn't the Furher of the country, so he didn't have a complete say either…

Winry shook off such thoughts. She had to decide what she was going to do first.

Winry finally reached Shezka's room and knocked on the door.

"Just a second!" a voice called from inside. The next thing that was heard was a large crashing sound.

"Did your books fall on you again Shezka?" Winry yelled. There was no answer so Winry shrugged and opened the door herself. Sure enough, there was Shezka literally buried underneath a stack of books.

Winry sweatdropped as she went to help Shezka out of her mess; It was going to be a long day.

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"Ok Luna, tell us!"

Luna awoke with an annoyed Edward peering over her face. Luna's eyes widened and she punched his face, causing him to fly backwards into Alphonse and they both fell to the ground.

"What the hell was that for?" Edward demanded.

"For having an ugly face to wake up to!" Luna yelled back, "What the _hell_ do you two want now? All I'm trying to do is heal up so I can _leave_!"

Ed got up rubbing the cheek where he was punched and glared at Luna.

"We know you know more about this book! So spit it out! Tell us what you know!" Ed demanded.

"And even if I did, why do you guys _want_ to know about this book. Paradise? Do you really believe that nonsense?"

"Do you really believe we came from another world?" Ed spat back. Luna remained silent after that, "Well, do you?"

"How else would you know about alchemy? Its not exactly a popular science in this world," Luna said coolly.

"Wait you actually believe we came from another world?" Alphonse asked in disbelief.

Luna shrugged, "Is that so unusual?"

The Elric brothers just looked at each other and sweatdropped. What the hell kind of a statement was _that_?

"So if you believe us why not tell us about the book? It has information on getting to another world right? That's _exactly_ what we've been searching for!"

Luna sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She pulled her arms above her head and stretched before getting up on two legs.

"I honestly don't know very much more than what I've told you," Luna stated.

"But do you know anything else? Anything that will give us a lead?" Alphonse asked.

"If I told you anymore, you'd run away from Paradise. I don't want you to loose your determination if we're gonna make the trip to Paradise right?"

"We?" the brother's asked in unison, pointing to themselves.

Ignoring the surprise of the two brothers, Luna went on, "If we want to find out about this book, we better go find a translator. It's in Russian if I recall correctly…"

She turned to the two brothers smiling, and reaching a hand out, "You two think you can keep up?"

Ed and Al looked at each other with surprise, but their gazes quickly changed to that of determination. They both put out their hands and highfived Luna.

"Get whatever stuff you have. I want to leave now. There's a friend of mine who might be able to help us…"

"_That is if he wasn't shot," _Luna thought grimly. Knowing Zev, there was no way he would allow something like that to happen, but with crazy humans like that running around…

Luna sighed. The two brothers had left to gather their things as fast as they could, "Funny that I ended up trusting a couple of humans. Toboe, you would be laughing at my hypocrisy right now. And mom, you would be proud."

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**A/N: Well how was this installment? XD**

**Thanks to all my awesome reviewers! I'm feeling really good about this story. Things with Winry will pick up soon, don't worry.**

**Anyway…reviews? Please?**

**XD**

**I've also got another idea for an FMA Fanfic. Roy and Riza have to go on a mission and no one can take care of Black Hayate. Roy dumps the dog on Ed who has no idea how to take care of a dog. The only person other than Al (who is elsewhere) who knows how to take care of a dog is…Winry of course! XD It would be EdWin of course and humorous. I was thinking of telling it through the opinions of Den and Black Hayate. Tell me if you like the idea! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

_The Furies of Paradise_

_By Shadow_

_Chapter 4_

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_**Me: So, hopefully this time I won't take up an entire page on this damn thing called a disclaimer. You think that everyone would get it after the first time they read it but **__**no**_**! They just keep asking for these stupid things. Look at that, you're making me rant. If I continue on like this I'll be taking up eight pages in no time. No seriously, once I really did take up eight pages worth of ranting in an AIM conversation. It was scary…**

**Ed: Yes, it was quite scary… NOW GET THE HELL ON WITH THE DISCLAIMER!**

**Luna: Half-pint, SHUT UP! I'm SLEEPING. ITS 2AM!**

**Ed: I'M NOT A HALF-PINT!**

**Me (sweatdropping): I don't own FMA…or Wolf's Rain. Guys, don't start with this again, honestly, it's getting old. I promise I won't rant if you stop trying to fucking kill each other! I mean seriously, look at these two! Always fighting in my disclaimers, making them super long and wasting your time! You reviewers and readers should all be mad at Ed and Luna for fighting!**

**Al: We better start without Shadow; she's in a rant again.**

**Me: I mean come on! Don't the readers want to READ the story? (Continues rant)**

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"Where are we going?" Al asked cautiously as Luna leapt off his shoulders, "Why are we going into a Ghetto?"

Finally Luna was able to clear away the pieces of broken glass atop the wall and hoist herself up-top. She brought down her hand to help Alphonse up the wall, followed by the elder Elric.

"Al's right. Why are we risking our lives sneaking into a Ghetto? If the Nazis caught us we wouldn't have an excuse," Ed asked, eyeing Luna suspiciously.

Luna scoffed, and looked away from Edward's face.

"You scared?" she mocked before she jumped down onto the other side. She looked in both directions, and then motioned for the brother's to come after her.

The two landed with ease, as if they had done it many times before. Luna was somehow unsurprised and shrugged, "One of my friend's acquaintances lives here. He may be able to help us with the book."

Luna walked around the corner. On the streets were barely alive bodies of humans, begging for some kind of help. Luna looked away in disgust, "Pathetic little creatures…" Luna mumbled so only her own ears could hear.

"Brother, we should help these people," Alphonse said running to catch up with Luna and Edward. Luna turned her head in slight interest. They didn't think that the people in the streets were pathetic?

"They're going to die if we don't help them."

Ed looked solemn, "I know Al, but we can't do anything about it right now. There are too many people stuffed in this Ghetto to save them all. It would be easier if we were on the other side of the Gate, but without Alchemy we can't do the same amazing things like before."

Luna finally lost interest in the conversation. Of course they would be sympathetic. It was their species after all.

Al sighed in defeat. Edward was right. Al looked at the people with empathy, for he could not understand exactly what they were feeling, and said a quiet 'sorry' to the onlookers. Some of the people who were slumped against walls barely looked up as the trio walked by. It was a sad sight to see, but Luna remained indifferent.

"Goddamn it!" Luna suddenly exclaimed. She came to a sudden halt causing Ed and Al to bump into the back of her.

"What?" Ed asked urgently, aware to any possible threats.

"I can't remember were Tsume said he was!" Luna said angrily. The two brothers looked at each other in confusion as Luna punched her head as a sign of her stupidity.

"What the hell?" Ed asked his younger brother, who shook his head in response.

Luna stopped to think, closing her eyes in concentration. She recalled the night before:

_A black wolf with a white chest stepped out of the trees. She loathed the scent of her pack boarders after being away from them for a while now. Luna sighed and let out a howl to call the leader._

_She sat down at first; waiting patiently for the arrival of Toboe, the pack leader, but then as she heard footsteps approaching got down on the ground and crossed her front legs. She wanted to look like she didn't care what happened since she decided to run away from the pack._

_The truth was, she hated her pack. She was a rebel. Toboe was too kindhearted, and seemed more interested in helping the humans than helping their vanishing species._

_Toboe emerged from the undergrowth with two wolves following suit. One was elderly looking with an 'X' shaped scar on his chest. This was Tsume, who was like Toboe's older brother, and supposedly second in command when Kiba, the legendary white wolf, was their leader, and perhaps the only reason she regretted leaving her pack. He respected her for who she was and didn't treat her like a pup…_

_The second wolf Luna recognized to be Toboe's mate. She had never really known her well. What was her name again?_

_Luna snorted. They didn't smell like wild wolves; they reeked of humans and cities. This was exactly why she left._

"_I thought I heard you Luna," Toboe sighed. He could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't back to rejoin the pack…that was for sure._

"_What is it you want?" Tsume cut in, his voice scraggly and unused. It was as though he had not spoken in a long time._

_A bit of curiosity found its way into Luna's mind--she had no clue what had happened to her former pack lately--but she couldn't look like that for a moment she wanted anything to do with them._

"_Toboe, Tsume…err…" Luna nodded to each one, but stopped on Toboe's mate._

"_Raven" she filled in for her a bit too politely._

"_Right," Luna said in an uncaring manner, "as you can see, I'm not here for good. I want to know about this," Luna demanded as she pulled out the 'Book of the Moon'._

_Toboe looked solemnly at the book, "So you went and found that crazy man who killed your mother and got a hold of this book?" _

"_Yes. Unfortunately humans took the man before I could kill him myself, but I feel that this is more important than vengeance. Those stories were never fake were they; paradise is real."_

_The three wolves nodded, "But paradise only chooses a select few to cross its gates, and the price to get there is too heavy. Only one of us was able to ever make it, and we have never heard from him since."_

"_Kiba?" Luna said, knowing her answer was correct. No surprise Luna was right._

"_And your father," Toboe continued, "Hige went in the Gate with him, but we're pretty sure the Gate claimed his life."_

_Luna somehow wasn't surprised at this. She knew her father would have died for a good cause. At least one of her pack was able to make it there._

"_It was because he lacked the pure willpower to get to paradise like Kiba did that he died. Kiba was only able to get through because of his never-ending drive to get to paradise. If anyone of us deserved to get across the Gate, it was him," Tsume spoke up, surprising most everyone. Toboe's eyes flashed with anger, but he let the elderly wolf continue, "If you are willing to take the risk to get there, you must have a willpower so strong that life wouldn't matter to you. The Gate comes with a hefty entry fee. If you are to make it to the other side, than you must become attached to nothing here. You must want it above all else."_

_Luna nodded in understanding. It wasn't as if she had anything else she really needed in her world. It was a dying place, full of war and despair, and soon her species would be gone as well._

"_Who can I find to help me with the book?" Luna demanded, "Or do you know more."_

"_You know enough!" Toboe spoke up angrily, "I made a promise to your mother that you wouldn't die under my care, and I will _not_ break that promise to her! I forbid you from learning more of this!"_

_Luna's face contorted into a look of anger, "I chose to leave this pack so therefore I am no longer under your care. Tell me what you know!"_

"_No, and I forbid the two of you from saying anything to her!" Toboe snarled, tail high, showing his alpha status. With that he turned around and stomped off with a "Get out of here Luna, or come rejoin the pack, the choice is yours."_

_His mate, (what was her name?) followed after him, and before Luna had a chance to see if Tsume went after the others she turned around and stomped off._

"_Goddamn him! I hope he falls in an eight foot ditch!" Luna yelled to no one in particular. It was only when she felt two eyes gazing at her did she stop ranting and turn around._

_Tsume stood before her with curious eyes, "Don't mind the pup," he said. Luna smirked at Tsume's little 'nickname' for their pack leader; "he's just worried about you, that's all. The truth is we don't know where Kiba went, or if he really got to paradise. You are so much like him, that it scares Toboe. He doesn't want to see another friend die."_

_Luna's anger softened a bit as Tsume explained, and then smiled at Tsume. He was right, there was no need to stay angry with him for something like that. Finally Luna broke the silence of the night, "So cut to the chase Tsume; I have people with me who are goanna help me get to paradise, so I need to get back to before dawn."_

"_Humans." Tsume stated, "I can smell them on you. You should know better than to run off with humans like your mother. They can only hurt you in the end."_

_Luna smirked, "I'm just using them. They're odd ones who know about Alchemy. They say they're from the other side of the Gate. They've seen Paradise already, so they must know something."_

_Tsume stayed silent after that. Luna looked at him curiously, but was quickly growing weary from a lack of sleep. If she stayed out much longer she would be too tired to start her journey with the Elrics._

"_Zev," Tsume said suddenly._

"_Excuse me?" Luna said as she snapped out of her sleeplike daze._

"_Zev was an old packmate of mine. Go to him, he may be able to help you. He lives in the Ghetto in the nearest town..."_

And after that Luna's memory went fuzzy. She couldn't remember anything but Edward's snoring after that, and damn was that annoying when she was trying to sleep.

Luna groaned, "Figures that I would forget the most important detail. UGH!"

"Luna? What did you say the guy's name was?" Al asked calmly.

"Zev, but that bastard Tsume didn't give me enough information on where to find him!" Luna practically shouted.

"Did you say Tsume?" a deep voice rumbled.

Upon hearing a new voice Luna's head whipped around. Her bright blue eyes suddenly locked with a pair of glowing, beastly, yellow ones.

Without a word the two beings knew not to reveal what they were: wolves.

"That bastard is still _alive?_" the man continued. To the human eye he seemed to be a middle-aged man with a leather coat. His arm was bandaged and propped up in a sling. Luna could smell alcohol and stale bread on him.

As a wolf he was a dark gray, almost darker than the night sky, but not quite. His yellow eyes seemed to leap out of him, and a long scar ran across his snout.

"I thought that his guilt would kill him soon after we banished him, but it looks like he's more heartless than I recall!" the man continued.

Luna's face hardened; how _dare_ he talk about Tsume like that. Tsume was always the one Luna related the most to, and she wouldn't stand for some random wolf's insults.

"Shut up!" Luna warned, "Don't insult my packmate like that!"

But Luna's face fell. She recalled that she did in fact _leave_ her pack, "Err, former pack..."

Ed and Al could only look at the two in confusion as they had a stare down.

It was finally the old man that broke the silence, "So then, cut to the chase; I don't have all night."

Luna scowled, "So I guess I can assume your Zev then. Not so impressive for one of Tsume's acquaintances."

Zev glared angrily, "You are ignorant of how terrible a being he really is. Get to your point and leave."

Luna smirked, "Alright old man, have it your way," she stated coolly as she pulled out the book, "Tell me what you know about this."

Zev looked wide-eyed at the book, "That book…" he whispered. He looked up at Luna, and then Edward and Alphonse in turn.

"Come with me, this could take awhile," Zev said as he turned and started walking away from them.

Luna quickly followed, eager to learn of what might await her. Paradise seemed so close, she could almost feel it…

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Winry definitely didn't plan on being in line to speak with the Fuhrer that day. It had only been a day or so since that weird lady had visited her shop, and it wasn't everyday that the Fuhrer himself called you in for a brunch meeting.

Needless to say, Winry was quite nervous.

"Ah, there you are Winry," a woman's voice called. It was strong and mature, and one could recognize just how tough the woman was from the way she carried herself.

"Riza Hawkeye, long time no see," Winry said smiling. Hawkeye gave a light smile to her as she walked up to her, "I heard you would be seeing the Fuhrer today. What an odd thing for him to request? What did you get your hands onto that made him so interested all of the sudden?" Riza started, but on the last sentence she dropped to a whisper.

"Gathering info for Brigadier General Mustang eh?" Winry smirked. Hawkeye stayed indifferent.

Winry sighed and answered, "I'm not really sure. I just borrowed a book from Shezka and then some random woman from the military walks into my shop and asks if I want to be an alchemist!"

Riza was taken aback at this. She was called in just for reading a simple book? And asked to become an _Alchemist_?

"Winry," Hawkeye said seriously, "What was the book called?"

Winry took a breath, but stopped short as the door to the Furher's office opened.

A tall man with long dark blue hair came out of the door. He wore a long purple robe that made him look like royalty, and to top it off he wore an eye-patch…just like King Bradley before him.

"Fuhrer Darcia Sir!" Hawkeye said as she straitened herself and saluted the higher up.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye," Darcia said with a nod to let her know that she could be 'at ease'.

Hawkeye cleared her throat to acknowledge that she needed to say something more. Once again the Furher nodded as a reply.

"_I guess he doesn't speak much,"_ Winry thought to herself. That was definitely a change from the last person ruling the military, _"At least King Bradley wasn't creepy…"_

"Brigadier General Mustang asked me to give you these papers regarding the conflict with the Drachma Empire," Riza said with a complete unemotional tone. Silently, Winry wondered how she managed to stay so serious all the time. Didn't this guy's demeanor intimidate her at all?

The Furher's one eye turned toward Winry and studied her. Winry could barely make out a glow coming from the side of his eye patch…so his eye wasn't gouged out…why was he wearing an eye-patch then?

"You must be the young Rockbell," Darcia said.

His voice was deep and menacing and Winry almost stuttered as she replied, "Yes Furher sir!"

"Follow me."

And without another word Winry followed the man into his office for 'brunch'.

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"I don't know much Russian, but I can tell you the general story in here," Zev said in a hushed voice. The four of them were huddled together in a basement lit up by a sole light bulb.

Luna snorted, "It smells like dead animal in here…why are you living like this?"

Zev turned his beastly gaze to Luna. His eyes were serious and filled with emotion, "You are too young and naïve to understand," He started.

"I'm not that young," Luna retorted.

Zev smirked, "You're a little rebel I see…"

Luna glared at him to answer her question. Zev shrugged and continued, "As you know, people have been increasingly violent towards our kind…" Zev said gesturing to the bullet wound in his arm. Luna briefly stole a glance at her leg. It was healing…painfully slowly.

"And the family that lives here took me in and treated me as best they could."

"Of all the people you could have chosen," Luna started, "Why did you side with the part of the human race that is being destroyed by the power? You do realize that there would be no escape for you if a Nazi found you hanging around with a Jew! Besides who needs people, they're worthless--"

"They are not worthless!" Zev snarled at Luna, "They are like us Luna!"

Luna was shocked to say the least. Wolves comparing to humans? It was unheard of.

"I didn't really expect you to understand. These people are one and the same as us Luna. Although they are not really what we are, they are in the same situation. They are being exterminated at the same rate as us. In this book," he said, sparking the interest of the two Elrics, "it says 'at the end of the world, a paradise will be opened;' for these people as well as ours, the world is ending. As far as I'm concerned these humans have as much of a right to paradise as we do Luna. That is why I'm here."

Luna said nothing, but a scowl made her way onto her face. She could _never_ be like Zev. He was like Toboe. He respected humans. It was…disgusting…

"Anyway…the book…" he started again after a long, painful silence.

It was then that Zev started talking about the legend.

_At the end of the world a paradise will be opened, but only wolves will know how to find it._

"Wolves?" Edward spoke up, "But they died out over 200 years ago."

Luna slammed her fists on the table and her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Humans were so dumb!

"They. Did. Not. Die." Luna said through clenched teeth.

Zev laughed at Luna's expression but the cheerful moment was cut off' a gunshot was heard followed by a bloodcurdling scream.

The four went totally silent. Screams of terrorized people followed by gunshots and shouts of German could be heard from above ground.

Suddenly both Zev and Luna heard the German Nazi's proceed to towards the house.

"Get out through the back," Zev whispered urgently, "and don't you _dare_ die Luna."

Luna nodded and gestured for the Elrics to follow her out the back. She briefly poked her head back in and asked "Where are you going Zev? You could be killed!"

"I have to save them Luna…these people depend on me! I'll catch up don't worry!"

Concern flooded Luna's features. Even if this old wolf was a human supporter, she couldn't stand to see another one of her kind die.

"Don't die," Luna said quietly.

Zev smirked, "You know how we are. We have the strength of over 100 humans. I will be fine."

And with that Zev pushed Luna out the door. Luna looked back briefly as she disappeared after the Elrics.

"_Maybe we're stronger than humans, but even we can't be stronger than a bullet."_

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**A/N: I'd like to apologize for the late update. My old computer crashed and I had to order a new one…so I had to rewrite this chapter from memory. Ew.**

**Summer's around the corner, so expect more updates in the next 3 months. I'm determined to at least finish one of my stories…lol**

**I had another great FMA crossover idea, only this time it's a crossover with a videogame. The World Ends With You. It'd be an AU fic, but man I have such a great idea. XD**

**I also am developing an idea for a CardCaptor Sakura Fanfic. Probably focused on Shaoran…since he pwns. XD**

**Also check my youtube out. I'm planning on making a trailer for this fic.**


	6. Chapter 6

The Furies of Paradise

By Shadow

Chapter 5

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"Please sit down Ms. Rockbell," Darcia said, sitting at the end of the table in an elegant chair fit for a king.

Winry nervously obeyed, and sat opposite him. A young woman with black hair put up in two buns came to the table with tea and some kind of pastry. The smells were intoxicating, but Winry declined the offer, being too nervous to _really_ eat anything.

"So Ms. Rockbell," the Fuhrer said suddenly, breaking Winry's thoughts. "It seems you have stumbled across…_The Lunar Tome_, am I right?"

Winry clenched her fists around the hem of her skirt, "Fuhrer, I don't mean to be impolite, but can you cut to the chase? What is it you want with Paradise?"

"Smart girl," he said, pouring himself a cup of tea. He offered her some silently, but Winry just shook her head. "It has been the dream of my family for generations to open the gates to Paradise….however, I want to open the gate for a far different reason. Perhaps it is one you will understand, Winry Rockbell…."

His servant came around, and whispered something in his ear before disappearing through the door. Darcia watched where she exited for a few moments before turning his attention back to Winry, "My lover Hamona," he started. "It was our dream to go to paradise together."

Winry tensed. An image of her and Ed playing together as little kids back home came to her mind for some reason.

"However, I did not realize…how much she really wanted it. How much she believed she would get there one day. She wanted to get to paradise so badly, that her soul left her body, and went through the gates to get there. So you see, Winry Rockbell, I am trying to open the gates for the one thing man has always gone crazy over…."

Winry was hearing every word, but she couldn't see Darcia in front of her. It was just images of Edward, becoming obsessed in his alchemy, and crossing the gate into the other world. It was almost a parallel story. Almost.

"I want it for love."

Winry stood up suddenly and muttered a barely audible, "Excuse me."

With that Winry left the room, and ran down the hall and into the bathroom. She desperately tried to stop tears from coming down her face, but was failing miserably.

"Ed," she wailed. "Are you also lost to your obsession so much that you'll never come back?"

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Luna ran after Ed and Al through an alleyway. The gunshots started to become louder, and more frequent. Screams of terrified humans echoed into the night. Luna looked over her shoulder, worried.

"Luna, you okay?" Al asked as they crept down the almost pitch black alleyway.

Luna nodded, "I'm worried about Zev," she replied truthfully. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Oh, _now_ you don't have a good feeling," Edward shot back sarcastically. "I knew we shouldn't have come here from the beginning!"

"Well, _excuse me_," Luna retorted, "You guys are the ones that wanted to come along with me to learn about this book."

Ed let out something akin to a growl, which Luna imitated with striking accuracy (obviously, since she was a wolf), but they were cut short as they heard another scream of agony.

"They're getting closer," Luna said in a hushed voice.

"Does this place have an exit?" Ed asked, now serious.

"You guys go on," Luna replied, rather than answering the question. "I'm going back for Zev. This is ridiculous. He's going to get killed."

With that, Luna turned around, and started walking back towards the house, but was abruptly stopped by someone gripping her arm.

"Luna, _you're_ going to get killed."

Luna whipped around, furious, and came face to face with Alphonse. She was about to retort with something nasty, but stopped short when she realized he was actually concerned for her well being. She relaxed, and let out an uncharacteristic smile. "I'll be fine."

With that, she squeezed out of his grip, and took off at a speed that no human could match.

Luna followed the sounds of gunshots until she came back to the house. She could hear the screaming of people inside the building, but when she found the back door, it was sealed closed.

"Damn," Luna swore. With that, she ran around to the front of the building. A Nazi officer stood at the front of the house where the door was open, pointing his gun at someone.

"Please don't shoot," the woman shouted. "Don't shoot my son!"

The soldier shouted something in German, and another soldier came to the woman, and slapped her in the face. The woman shrieked. The first Nazi shouted another order in German, and the second soldier responded by shooting the woman on the side of her head. She fell over in a heap of blood.

The little boy screamed in horror.

"Momma!" he shouted. Immediately, Luna was hit with a wave of sympathy. An image of her mother lying dead after being shot by a hunter was thick in her mind.

"_Mother!" a young Luna cried, wailing over her mother's body. "Don't be dead. Please!"_

"Please don't die mother!" the kid cried, breaking Luna out of her thoughts. She winced. It was similar. _Too _similar….

The Nazi shouted at the kid in German, and hit him over the head with the barrel of his gun. The boy was quiet after that, sniveling on the ground.

Luna let out a feral sound, a snarl. She was not about to stand by idly and watch the kid get shot. She readied herself to leap forward, and kill the Nazi, but before she could react, Zev came flying out of the second floor window, in wolf form. He landed down on the Nazi's shoulders, biting into his neck, and toppled over, the now dead Nazi underneath him. He snarled at the surprised soldiers, "Get back!" he cried.

"Zev!" the kid shouted. "Zev you're hurt!"

And then Luna noticed it. Zev was covered in blood.

"Zev!" Luna shouted, not caring about the element of surprise anymore. She rushed forward, into the line of fire. The second Nazi let out a surprised cry, but it was cut short, for Luna bit down onto his neck in the blink of an eye, barely shifting from human to wolf and back again.

Unbeknownst to Luna, a third soldier took aim at her from a ways away.

"Luna?" Zev exclaimed surprised. "Where are Ed and Al?"

"I told them to leave without me. Come on, we have to get you out of here."

_BLAM!_

The gunshot seemed to echo forever in Luna's ears. She was careless. She had failed. She would never make it to paradise.

But for some reason, death was oddly painless.

"ZEV!" the little kid shrieked, causing Luna to snap her eyes open.

Zev lay in a heap next to Luna. He had taken a bullet to the chest.

"No!" Luna wailed. "Zev!"

He coughed up a generous helping of internal blood and looked up at Luna. It was a horrifying sight. The light was struggling to stay in his eyes.

Luna snarled, quickly shifting from human to wolf form and turning around. The Nazi soldier still had the barrel of his gun pointed at Luna, but his eyes were filled with fear, and rightfully so.

"Bastard," Luna snarled, taking a step forward.

"Stay back!" the soldier demanded. But Luna wasn't about to listen to the demands of a human, nor would she leave this one alive after what he did to Zev.

"I'll kill you," she muttered softly. "I'll kill you!"

With that she leapt forward, moving at a speed no human could comprehend. She ruthlessly bit down into the Nazi's neck, letting his blood soak her muzzle and fur. With a effortless flick of her head, Luna threw the dead man aside, watching his body crash to the floor.

For a few moments she stood there, panting, but quickly turned her attention back to Zev.

"Don't die," she thought as she raced back over to him. "Don't you _dare_ die."

"Luna," he grumbled. "Thank you…for protecting…him. He is young, and has the rest of his life to live thanks to you. I want you to take care of him for me. Get him out of this damned Ghetto. Please, as my dying wish."

Luna shook her head. "You're not going to die," she said, bending over him. "You will be fine and take him out of here yourself."

Zev let out a weak laugh. "Youthful optimism is a gift. I am an old wolf Luna. I'm not going to recover from this bullet wound."

"No!" Luna distressed. "Please! Don't go!"

"Lets meet up again in paradise."

"Zev!" Luna howled, but in vain. The old wolf was gone from the world, never to run free again.

"Luna!" a voice called from the distance, but was promptly ignored as Luna stayed crouched at Zev's side, switching from wolf to human on pure instinct.

"Luna?" the voice called again. This time, Luna recognized it to be Alphonse. "What happened?"

"What is that animal?" Edward asked suspiciously.

"It's Zev," Luna muttered. "He's a wolf."

Alphonse gasped, and Edward narrowed his eyes at the two canines.

"Lets get out of here," Luna said, wiping the tears from her eyes and standing up. She would not appear weak in front of the Elric brothers. It would be unacceptable in her eyes.

Luna turned back around, staring into the darkness at the figure of the young boy. "Well you heard him," she said sternly. "I'm taking you out of here."

The boy crept forward, his shaggy hair blocking his eyes. His body was beyond thin, and you could see every one of his ribs, not to mention his clothes were tattered and small on him. The poor kid must have been living in hell.

Luna gave him a sympathetic look. "What's your name?"

"Yoshua," he said weakly. "But I prefer Joshua."

"Alright," Luna replied, gesturing for him to follow. "Let's move."

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Joshua leapt down the wall to freedom. He was finally rid of the Ghetto. Part of him was overflowing with happiness, but the other part of him was drowned in sorrow. Tonight his entire family had died, and Zev as well.

And this Luna…. She was a wolf.

It was strange to him. He knew wolves were hard to come by, but it was especially weird that he seemed to be a beacon for them.

"Luna?" he spoke up. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to Paradise," she said in a determined voice.

"I thought you said you didn't believe the stories?" Alphonse said.

"I don't care," she said, not turning to look Al in the face. "I'm going to go there, and meet up with Zev. And my father."

"Your father?" Al asked. "What happened to him?"

"He got pulled through the gate."

Ed and Al exchanged glances, and then stared back at Luna. Something about her was different now. She was serious now, and she seemed like she wasn't going to hold back. Suddenly, Ed felt a whole lot better. The more determined they all were, the faster he could get home.

"Lets rest here," Luna said suddenly, breaking the silence between the group. "We'll need our strength for tomorrow, and now we're far enough away from civilization to stay hidden.

"Okay," Joshua said quietly. "I'll go grab some firewood."

"Alphonse, go with him," Edward said. "We'll need more than one person collecting wood."

"Okay brother," Al replied, chasing after Joshua at a run.

Luna and Ed watched them dissapear into the forest, and then turned to both look at each other.

"So, what is it really?" Luna asked, crossing her arms.

"I'm onto you," Ed replied, narrowing his eyes. "I know you're not taking us with you for our benefit. I know you hate all humans, and I know you yourself are most definitely _not_ a human."

"And how did you figure that out?" Luna asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I saw you shift forms," Ed replied. "Last night when you came back from your little outing."

Luna's eyes widened. He had seen her coming back from her pack?

"You didn't see where I went right?" Luna asked, fear rising in her voice. As much as she hated her former pack, Luna would rather not have any human know about the territory they lived on. It was a threat.

"No, I just saw you before you entered the camp."

Luna snarled at Edward. "Don't tell a soul."

"I won't if you will tell us _exactly_ how much you know about that book."

Luna snarled again. "You won't like everything you hear."

"I think I can handle it."

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**A/N: Wow, talk about waiting forever for an update. Don't kill me! XD.**

**And please, PLEASE review!**


	7. Authors Note

**A/N: Okay, I'm usually really against these.... author's notes chapters, but I felt the need to let you guys know what the hell has been going on with me. So I'll give you the bad news... and then the good news!**

**First things first though, I am going to explain my loooong hiatus (aside from that one-shot and my crackfic, which hardly counts). Well, I'd like to first of all blame my Hiatus on my poor health. This year has been the worst year in terms of how sick I've gotten (actually, I have a rather nasty cold right now... on fucking FINALS WEEK!). We think the cause of it is a cyst I got on my back, which by the way, is the most painful thing I have EVER had in my entire lifetime. That said, I'm having the damned thing removed next week. The surgery is supposed to be painless (thank god, I've had enough with the pain) so I should be back and running soon.**

**So, here's the bad news. This week (which I am calling shit week), I have had finals (which I am failing due to being sick. DX) and then, just as my luck would have it, my computer completely crashes.... which means any and all of my updates may be completely lost, including re-written chapters of many of my fanfics, and my original stories, not to mention my artwork, AMVS, and other unfinished projects. If I can't get those back, my motivation for a lot of these stories is gonna go down the drain.**

**But do not fear, there is hope. I may be able to recover my files (which would be amazing indeed. I needz my files. DX), which would be the best case scenario. The worst case scenario would be that I don't get them back, and have to discontinue some of my stories... which I don't want to do. ****Still, hope is not gone for my readers. I have many fresh ideas to write down for you, so even if worst comes to worst, and I do loose motivation for my current stories, new ones are on the way from my very twisted, yet creative mind. 8D.**

**Hopefully, I have eased your minds about where I've been. And don't worry, I am confident I'll be getting my stuff back :)**

**--Smiff**

**PS: While I'm here, I emplore you to look at my FictionPress account... cuz I am a shameless advertiser like that.**


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